A lot of people think that to get great results in your garden you need to be an expert. This is simply not true; even those without experience can have a fantastic looking garden. It just takes the right attitude and a willingness to learn through practical activity. With some simple work you can achieve long lasting and impressive results (and teach yourself about gardening in the process). This article will detail some example garden projects that you can undertake that don’t require a great deal of skill or experience. This way you’ll be able to get stuck in and start seeing the fruits of your labour straight away.
Three easy garden projects
Creating your own compost
Compost is a natural substance that can be used to provide nutrients and minerals to soil beds. It is fairly easy to produce from home; yet many people still go and buy it in bulk from garden centres, hardware stores and supermarkets. You can easily create your own compost from home with your garden waste and food waste.
It is a simple substance made up of naturally decomposed materials. Left behind in compost are the raw minerals, nutrients and underlying fibres of the original substances. This can give various areas of your garden a strong growth boost. Compost acts like a slow release food, which can give sustained nutrition and benefit to plants over an entire season.
Creating this nutrient dense plant and soil feed is an easy and passive process. All you need to do is combine your food and garden waste in a composting bin. The substances will naturally decompose and as long as you occasionally turn the pile to allow fresh air in the rest should take care of itself. Typical lead times for a composting heap to be ready from starting can range anywhere from a few weeks to months. It really depends on what materials you are using and the climate you’re in. Warmer climates speed up the process exponentially compared to colder surroundings.
Building a vegetable growing plot
Growing your own vegetables from home is really easy (it’s another near passive process like with composting). Building a dedicated vegetable growing patch or plot in your garden is a great way to organise your home growing activities.
It can be as simple as creating a bordered area with fertile soil in it, to dedicated growing boxes which are more aesthetically pleasing. Either way the end result is the same; it’s just a matter of how you like to present your garden.
Vegetable growing is a very seasonal activity and different crops will suit different times of the year. This makes it pretty interesting as an activity and keeps you interested throughout the various seasons. The actual process itself of growing edible plant life in your garden is fairly simple. All you need is fertile soil, sunlight and water. With these three elements you can easily grow healthy and delicious fruit and vegetables in your own garden.
Laying down new turf on your lawn
This one is a bit more complex than the previous two garden projects. It involves using specialist machinery but the results are visually striking and well worth it. Plus if you want to take on a project in your garden that is challenging but not impossible this is ideal. Alternatively, you can contact artificial grass specialists to help you.
Laying down new lawn turf is recommended every 7-10 years for those who want to keep an ornamental style lawn.
The tools you’ll need to do the job are a turf cutter, roller, watering can and top dresser. These tools in themselves are not inherently complex, but it is the process that they’re used for that can become difficult. If the job is not done correctly it can be a pain to fix; so it’s best to get it done right first time round. You can use the instructions detailed in this article or elsewhere; but make sure you follow some professional guidelines.
The first step you’ll want take is to remove the old lawn turf in its entirety. This is where the turf cutter comes in; it is a simple mechanised tool used to lift up strips of lawn grass simply and easily. All you have to do is lead the turf cutter up and down your lawn in even straight lines. Once this is done you should gather up the old turf in rolls (like what your new turf is supplied in). You may need to use a shovel or spade to break up any underlying roots that are connecting the turf to the ground. But in general this should not be too much of an issue.
You should now be left with a bare soil bed that was underneath the old grass. This is where the roller comes into play; you’re going to want to level out the ground before laying down the fresh new turf. Before doing this though it is a good idea to give the soil a bit of a churn up to give it some air and bring up nutrients from deeper in the ground. This way the soil you’re levelling out at least has a bit of freshness to it; rather than just flattening out the top layer.
Finally there is the process of laying down the new turf grass; this is the part of the job where you’ll want to spend the most time. This is because any mistakes are visible, cost a lot of money and can be hard to fix as well. You should measure out the width of your turf strips and then mark out a grid to align them. This will make sure that you don’t have an overlap or shortage as you’ll be able to cut the turf to size before starting. When laying down turf water the strip of ground first; this will help the new turf settle in and bond with the underlying ground. Do this one strip at a time trying to line them up flush so there’s as small a gap as possible. You’ll likely need to make some small cuts or adjustments to get the right fit (this can be done with a Stanley blade). Once you are done go over the top of your new lawn spreading soil with a top dresser. This will help fill in any gaps and also give it the nutrients it needs to settle in properly. It’s also a good idea to give the top side of the turf a going over with the watering can.
Hopefully these three garden projects will be something you can get started on easily in your garden. It may seem daunting but getting stuck in and learning by doing really is the best way. This article was provided by SGM who provide lawn care machinery and equipment.
